The Color of the Future
by Queenbean3
Summary: By a strange twist of fate, Melan ends up on Earth again in the year 1979. With the help of a 23-year-old Marin he embarks on a new mission. But will their relationship ever be the same again?
1. Dark Blue Discovery

Part 1: Dark Blue Discovery

It was late at night when Marin heard the voice.

Hearing voices in her dreams was not unusual. However, this was a voice that she had not heard for years, and it came so strongly that it jolted her out of a deep sleep. She sat bolt upright in her futon, her pulse and her breathing much quicker than before.

Outside her room a terrific storm was raging. Actually, it wasn't just a storm. It was a typhoon, one that would go down in recorded history as the largest and most intense tropical cyclone ever. It was called Super Typhoon Tip, and right now it was fully living up to its name. The sky was pitch-black and rain was pouring down in sheets, hammering on the tin roof of the tenement house. Howling winds tore at the walls and windows. Lightning flashed and thunder growled like an angry beast. Yet Marin continued to sit there in her futon, blocking out the noises from outside, and hoping against all hope that the voice would come back.

It did. She had not imagined it. It was real, and somehow deep down in her gut, she knew where it was coming from. At that moment, she had the distinct impression that she should leave her warm, safe futon behind and find the source of that voice somewhere out in that storm.

There was no time to change her clothes, so Marin put a raincoat on over her hand-me-down pajamas. She crept down the stairs to the entryway where her rubber boots were and slipped her feet into them. As soon as she opened the front door she was attacked with stinging raindrops and savage winds. Undaunted, she shut the door firmly behind her and began to walk, shielding her face with one hand and holding her hood in place with the other.

Marin crossed the wooden footbridge over the canal, which was now filled with a torrent of muddy waters. There were streams filling the gutters and lake-sized puddles in the street beyond. The old coat kept the water off but did nothing to keep the cold air out, and the insides of her boots were soon soaked. Above her the thunder and lightning continued raging away.

She wasn't sure how long she walked, but before she knew it Marin was standing before the torii gate of the Nezu Shrine. There was no longer a voice guiding her, but something else, some force she couldn't identify. Her feet were moving by themselves now, taking her over the slippery stone path, across the empty grounds, up a flight of stairs, and under even more torii arches. She passed all the ancient buildings of the shrine complex, her boots sloshing with every step, until she came right to the edge of the river.

Like the canal by her house the river was flooded and moving quickly, black as the sky and angry as the storm. Yes, this was where she was supposed to come, and she was supposed to find something here. She watched the dark waters rushing by, straining to hear the voice again, but it was silent. Where it had gone she did not know, but she knew she had heard it before, a very long time ago when she was very young.

Marin stood on the soggy riverbank squinting at the river through the dark rain. After a while, there was a flash of lightning bright enough to finally show her what she was supposed to see. There was a large shape some feet away, caught on something that prevented it from washing downstream with the rest of the flotsam and jetsam. At first glance it looked like a pile of rocks, but it was bobbing up and down in a way that was impossible for a pile of rocks to do. As she looked at it longer she recognized the vague outline of a human form, or at least something that was very close to human.

With a sharp intake of breath Marin charged into the murky river and almost got swept away by the powerful current. Luckily her boots stuck fast in the mud, allowing her to wade closer to the mystery figure until she was up to her knees in filthy water. Sure enough it was a man floating face down and tangled in weeds near the shoreline.

In the darkness she couldn't make out clear details, but she knew instinctively that this was not a human man's body. Cracked metal wings were on his back and his limp arms were a battered gun on the left and a broken sword on the right. What really got her attention, though, was a small ribbon tied around the base of the sword. It was dirty and tattered, but even with the darkness and the rain blurring her vision she could tell that it was red.

Marin immediately tackled the weeds binding the motionless creature and tore up as many as she could with her shaky hands. Her heart was pounding so loudly that she couldn't even hear her own frantic breathing. When the weeds were loose she began to pull the large body to shore, fueled by adrenaline and desperate hope. Her burden was heavy and difficult to drag up the slippery banks, yet somehow she made it out. Then she heaved both of the creature's damaged weapon-arms over her shoulders and started trudging to the nearest shrine building.

By the time Marin got under the building's roof she was out of breath, she was soaked to the skin, and her tangled hair was dripping in her eyes. She wanted to collapse on the floor, fall asleep and never wake up, but her flood victim was too important to leave. With the little strength she had left she carefully lowered him to the ground and turned him on his back.

Now Marin could see his him clearly and what a terrible state his heavy body was in. He'd obviously been through some terrible battle. His deep blue armor was cracked in places and totally shattered in others. There were numerous injuries on his face, limbs and torso, all leaking a violet fluid that smelled exactly like blood. Worst of all, he wasn't breathing. She touched his pale face with her hands and felt no warmth. She tried shouting and slapping him to wake him up, but it was useless. She pressed her ear to his chest and listened. His heart was beating, but very weakly.

Her thoughts began to race. What should she do now? If only she could call an ambulance, or Jun, or even the weird shrine keeper. But there wasn't enough time to wait for help to come. His heart could stop beating any minute. She had to get him breathing again, and there was only one way to do that.

Inhaling deeply, Marin pulled his cold lips open with her fingers and performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Jun had explained the procedure to her many times before. This was her first time actually doing it, though, and she was unsure if she was doing it properly. Nonetheless, again and again, she passed warm breath into him and prayed for a miracle.

Suddenly he gasped loudly and began coughing, and Marin was so relieved she could barely keep herself from throwing her arms around his neck and squeezing all his air out again. Instead she raised his head to help him breathe more comfortable. He was choking up all the muddy water he had swallowed, and there was purple blood coming up with it. Soon his coughing slowed and eventually stopped, and the only sound left was his heavy, ragged breathing.

Fearing he might slip back into unconsciousness again, she worked up the courage to speak. Her trembling voice was no louder than a whisper. "Melan…"

His breath hitched for an instant. Then his eyes slowly opened. His irises were crimson as they stared blearily at her face. He squinted and blinked a few times, trying to clear his foggy vision. Despite his exhaustion he attempted to speak. His voice came out sounding choked, raspy and very tired. "Ma…ri…n…?"

A lump swelled up in her throat and tears stung her eyes, but she would not let them spoil this moment. She smiled back at him through her dripping bangs. "Yes… It's me, Marin Asagi…"

He continued to stare at her, no longer blinking. Confusion was changing into shock. "Im…Impossible…" he said, more to himself than to her. "I must be dreaming…or dead…"

"No, Melan. This is real …You're alive…" The tears continued to sting her eyes until they were burning. Finally she couldn't hold it in anymore. With a high-pitched wail she dropped her sodden head against his chest and wept.

Melan was too weak and exhausted to even lift an arm around her sobbing, shivering form. All he could do was listen to her muffled cries. No, there was one other thing he could do. He could speak. "Marin…" he murmured wearily. "Marin …"

The sound of his voice saying her name seemed to calm her. Soon her crying had stopped but she was still sniffling a bit. She could feel his heart beating steadily against her cheek, proving that he was indeed alive and real. "It's real…" she muttered. "It's impossible, but it's real … You're really here…" She smiled and gave a weak chuckle. "I feel like…like _I'm_ the one dreaming now…"

Melan started to believe this was not a dream. The pain in his body was all too real. "Marin…I…can't move…"

Her smiled disappeared in a flash. "Oh …Can't you go back to your ampoule to heal?"

"No." He would have given her a more detailed explanation, but he simply didn't have the energy. Besides, if this really wasn't a dream she would already know the reason why.

Marin pushed her soggy bangs away from her eyes with a thoughtful frown. "In that case, I'd better take you home. We can take better care of you there." She looked outside where the rain and wind were still raging wildly. "For now, we'd better rest here until the storm lets up."

Melan did not disagree with her. Resting seemed like a brilliant idea and he was already starting to doze off. "Thank you, Marin."

She looked at him and blinked. "Huh?"

His eyelids were closing, but he managed to smile as his voice trailed off. "You saved my life…Thank you…"

A rush of heat shot through Marin's damp body and stained her cheeks. By the time she was capable of speech again Melan was fast asleep and breathing calmly. For a while she just sat there and watched him. He looked both stern and serene at once, and she worried that if she looked away from him he'd disappear.

A chill breeze reminded her that she was soaked down to her underwear and her boots were now freezing swimming pools. Then she thought that Melan must be cold, too. So she lifted his head in her arms and cradled it in her lap, then leaned back against the stone altar and closed her eyes.

"Good night, Melan." Marin whispered. "Welcome home."

* * *

A small finger poked his cheek. It tickled a bit, but not enough to bother him. Then that same small finger was peeling down his lower right eyelid.

Startled, Melan sat bolt upright and lifted his sword arm to defend himself. To his confusion there were two small children standing near him. One was a boy and the other was a girl. They both had the same dark hair and light skin. They also both had the same look of fear on their faces.

The boy exclaimed something in English. Then he started bowing and apologizing in Japanese. At the same time the girl, who appeared to be younger, was on the verge of tears and trying to cling to the boy's arm.

Melan quickly dropped his sword. "No, wait." he said, hoping to calm them down. "Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you."

The boy stopped bowing and looked hesitantly back at him. "You won't?"

Melan shook his head. "No."

A big smile appeared on the boy's face. Then he bowed again, this time in a gesture of greeting. "It's really nice to meet you, Melan-san. I'm Gen, and this is my little sister Moto." The girl did not smile but she copied her brother's greeting anyway.

Melan stared at the two young children. He had not expected them to accept his words so quickly. To most humans he looked like a monster, especially to small children. There was also something else unusual about them. Even though he was sure he had never met them before, their biological information seemed strangely familiar.

"Where am I?" he said at last.

"This is Auntie Marin's room." Gen said helpfully. "She's down in the kitchen helping with lunch, but she said she was gonna come check on you soon. She was real scared 'cause you were all bloody an' stuff. It was cool!"

As he spoke, Melan's memories started to return. The last thing he remembered before waking up here was being in a cold, dark place and hearing Marin's voice. So it really wasn't a dream. She really had saved his life and brought him back to her house.

Melan then started to take in his surroundings. He was sitting in a futon that was too small for him and his body was covered by a patched up duvet that was also too small for him. The room was indeed Marin's bedroom in the tenement house, but there was something different about it. It was still very tidy, but the tatami mats and timbers looked more worn and used than he remembered, and in one corner there was a low table with a strange metal contraption that had not been there before.

He then looked down to check his injuries. All of the wounds not hidden by the duvet were covered in bandages and both of his weapon-arms were fully regenerated. He felt no pain in his legs or wings, either. His healing process was proceeding much quicker than he had expected. Perhaps that was due to Marin and her family tending to him.

A floorboard creaked. Melan turned his head. While he had been preoccupied, Gen had been watching him with wide, fascinated eyes and inching closer until he was now face to face with him. "Melan-san, did the typhoon make you crash your spaceship?"

Melan replied with a look of complete blankness. Before he could ask what a spaceship was, the boy asked him several more excited questions in rapid succession.

"Is your blood purple 'cause you eat lots of eggplants? Does your gun shoot lasers like the ones on TV? Can you chop a tree in half with your sword?"

Remaining safely behind her brother's back, Moto whined and tugged on the sleeve of his baggy sweater. "Nii-chan, let's go. Auntie Marin said to leave the robot spaceman alone."

The two children then started bickering. Melan just sat there and watched without the slightest idea of what to do about it. Just when the argument was starting to get loud, the door to the room slid open. A young woman with reddish brown hair and green eyes was standing there. She wore a secondhand sweater and skirt and carried a medical kit under one arm.

Melan recognized her biological information immediately, yet she looked like a stranger. His vision had been poor on the night she saved him and it had been too dark for him to identify much besides her voice, but there was no one else it could possibly be.

Marin was now tall enough that the top of her head would have been closer to his chest than his stomach if he were standing. Her bright green eyes were not framed by glasses and her long auburn hair was not bound up in a ponytail. Her hand-me-down clothing was not loose or baggy anywhere. This was not the young adolescent Marin he remembered. This was a fully grown adult Marin.

As soon as they saw her, the children started accusing each other of waking Melan up. Marin let out an exasperated sigh. She had clearly dealt with this sort of thing before and was not in the mood for any of it. She placed her free hand on her hip and did her best to frown sternly down at the children, but she sounded more tired than angry as she scolded them. "Okay, you two, that's enough! Go downstairs and wash up right now."

After the children trudged sullenly out of the room she shut the door behind them. Then she turned to where Melan was sitting in his futon. Time seemed to stop the moment their eyes met.

Her face lit up with just barely contained excitement. "Melan."

He sat there like a statue, still not quite believing what he was seeing. "Marin?"

"I'm so glad to see you awake!" she said brightly. "You were asleep for three days! For a while we thought you weren't going to make it, but you're looking much better today!"

She quickly crossed the floor and knelt beside his futon. Placing the medical kit in her lap she pulled the duvet off of his legs. As she started to remove the bandages there, she went on chattering as if everything was perfectly normal. The whole time he just sat there and stared as if she had just fallen out of the sky.

"I hope the kids didn't bother you. I kept telling them not to come in here but they're just too curious sometimes. They're Mike and Jun's kids, by the way. They were married about a year after you left. Now they're expecting another baby! Mike keeps hoping for a kid who looks like him, but so far they look more Japanese than American. I wonder why that is? Grandpa Shuta said it was something about dominant genes, but it all went over my head."

Soon there was only one bandage left on his right arm. Once she went to work on it, Marin slowly went silent as her eyes drifted to the dirty ribbon tied to the base of his sword. Almost without thinking, she smoothed its frayed edges wistfully. When she looked back up again, she finally noticed that Melan was looking straight at her.

Suddenly nervous, she quickly pulled her hand away and aimed her gaze at her knees. "S-sorry…" she stuttered. "I was just…I …I shouldn't have touched it…"

He watched her fumble with her skirt a bit longer. Then he raised his arm so the ribbon was directly in her line of sight.

She glanced up at him through her bangs then made a half-hearted attempt at a smile. "Well…It _does_ look like it's starting to come loose." As her hands moved to adjust the ribbon's knot, she attempted to make casual conversation to ease the tense atmosphere. "Actually, I'm surprised you still have this old thing. I thought you might have lost it by now. It's been ten years, after all."

There was very long, heavy silence then. When she looked up again, his face was even more stunned than it had been when she had first walked into the room. He stared at her a moment longer. Then he looked out the window. The sky was gray and a light drizzle was falling. There was no sound but the light rain pattering on the tin roof above and in the streets outside. "Ten years…"

The gravity of his tone caused a very important fact to dawn on her. Time moved a lot faster here on Earth than it did on Brigadoon. She felt her mouth go dry. "Melan….How long has it been for you?"

He kept gazing out the window in silence. Just when she thought he hadn't heard her, he spoke again. "One month."

Marin blinked several times in surprise. Her eyes drifted to rest on her knees and her formerly cheerful voice became sober. "Oh…" she said. She made another weak attempt at a smile. "You must be pretty surprised to see me this way, huh?"

Melan did not have words for an answer. He had definitely been surprised to see her this way, but now he wasn't sure how he felt. All of this strangeness was starting to make sense yet he could still scarcely believe it. The single month Melan had been home on Brigadoon had been the longest month of his life. He had often looked up at the sky and wondered what was happening on Earth without him, and what it would be like if he returned. Now that he had his wish, it was not at all what he had expected.

Since the conversation had died, she went to work removing the last bandage on his arm. He continued to stare out the window. A clock on the dresser ticked. Voices talked downstairs. More rain fell outside. A neighbor's dog barked somewhere.

Eventually, Marin cleared her throat and spoke. "Well, that's the last of the bandages." she said, trying to be cheerful again. "You should be well enough to move around now."

The wooden floorboards creaked as Melan slowly lifted his large body from the futon and steadily rose to his feet. His joints made mechanical hissing noises as he flexed the weapons that were his forearms. Then Marin rose from the floor, clutching the medical kit with one hand and a bundle of dirty bandages with the other. He looked at her and was again reminded that she was not a child any longer.

Now that they were both standing up straight, the top of her head did indeed come closer to his chest than his stomach. When she looked back at him their eyes met. Again it seemed as if time had stopped and the rest of the world no longer existed. It was just the two of them standing face to face for the first time in ten years, neither one quite sure what to do next.

Suddenly three female voices that sounded exactly the same were calling from downstairs. "Marin-chan, it's time for lunch!"

Surprised and flustered, she called back a reply. "Okay, I'm coming!" She scratched the back of her head and gave him an awkward smile. "Ah-haaa …The Momoi Aunties."

Before Melan could say anything back, there was a loud gurgling noise from his stomach.

Marin stared for a moment. Then she burst out laughing.


	2. Light Blue Reunion

Part 2: Light Blue Reunion

Since he was hungry Melan decided to follow Marin downstairs to the dining area. He was not prepared for what happened next.

The moment Melan entered the room, a chorus of excited voices erupted. The men of the tenement house had been seated around the table and all of them got up at once to greet him. Time had made changes in each of them. Onando's gray hair was turning white, Tadashi's black hair was turning gray, and both of them had more lines on their faces. Mike had blond stubble on his chin and his skill with the Japanese language had improved drastically. His two children were with him, and Melan saw that what Marin had told him earlier was true. Gen and Moto looked nothing like their father, but both of them were a little taller and fairer than most Japanese children their ages.

Then the women emerged from the kitchen bringing the meal. The Momoi triplets, Hitoe, Futae and Mitsue, were as plump and jolly as ever in spite of new smile lines and gray hairs. Tadashi's wife Miyuki had a similar appearance to them. The last woman Melan recognized immediately as Jun. Although she showed few signs of age, there was an enormous round bulge in her stomach and he had a very surreal impression that there was something alive in there.

However, Melan was not given the luxury to contemplate Jun's bulge. Everyone was talking to him at the same time except for timid little Moto and the mute Onando, whose welcome consisted of various animated gestures and some patting on the back. Melan could hardly make sense of all the noise, and the worst part was that Marin had gone to put the medical supplies away.

Finally the Momoi triplets cheerfully interjected.

"Enough talking! The food is getting cold!" Hitoe said.

"Now that Melan is awake, we'll have to make more." Futae added.

"Especially rice!" Mitsue finished.

"Hey, what about the saké?" Tadashi complained. "We can't have a celebration without saké!"

Miyuki shook her head at her husband. "No, dear, you shouldn't drink so early in the day. Think of the example you're setting for our grandchildren."

"You wanna talk about bad examples?" he said with a smirk. "Ask them what kind of English they're learning from our son-in-law."

Mike flinched visibly. "What? I don't teach my kids bad words!"

"Please don't shout, Mike." Jun calmly said to her husband. "I have a terrible headache today. And father, you shouldn't accuse others of things you do yourself."

Tadashi relented. "All right, fine. Even without saké, this is still a special occasion. We're welcoming back a long lost family member, so let's get along and make him feel welcome!"

"Hey, wait up!" Marin called as she hurried to join the group. "Don't start without me!"

Soon everyone took their places around the table. Marin knelt on the cushion at the end where she and Granny Moto used to sit together. Melan's former place had been at the corner directly beside Marin, so he seated himself there in a cross-legged position. Onando sat down on his other side, the Tokita couple sat at the opposite end of the table, and the four members of the White family sat by them. Then another familiar routine began. Each of the Momoi triplets knelt in front of Melan, placed a different beverage on the table and offered it to him.

"Tea?"

"Coffee?"

"Juice?"

This was the customary reception for all people who came to the tenement house, whether they were moving in or just guests. It was also a subtle form of competition among the sisters. Melan knew very well what was supposed to happen next.

"Itadakimasu." Extending a pair of his ovoid touch-pads from his sides, he reached to take the drink of his choice. This time it was the tea, much to Hitoe's satisfaction and her sisters' chagrin.

After that, Melan picked up his chopsticks and proceeded to devour every grain of rice in his bowl. This surprised none of the adults, who ate their own meals at a normal pace and chatted amongst themselves. The White children, however, hardly touched their food as they gawked at him.

Melan's chopsticks flew so fast that they were just a blur and within seconds his bowl was empty. When he asked for more, Marin scooped up a fresh, hearty serving and gave the bowl back to him. Then his chopsticks started flying again.

This process continued until Melan had consumed no less than fifty bowls of rice in one sitting. His appetite satiated at last, he placed his chopsticks neatly across the top of his empty bowl and clapped his two touch-pads together. "Gochisousama."

The White children's mouths were now open as wide as their astonished eyes.

"It's impolite to stare, children." Jun told them gently.

Tadashi, seated at the opposite end of the table with a hot cup of tea, took the initiative to start a new conversation. "Now that you've finished eating, Melan, we have ten years of catching up to do, don't we?"

"Yes, we do." Melan said with his weapon arms now crossed in his lap. "Marin has already informed me that Mike and Jun were married approximately nine years ago. I assume that their children were born some time later."

Tadashi and Miyuki both arched their eyebrows. Mike and Jun looked at the table with some embarrassment. The Momoi triplets tittered to each other. Onando drank his tea in silence. Gen and Moto wondered why all the grown-ups were acting so funny. Marin cringed sheepishly behind her tea and resisted the urge to kick Melan under the table for exposing her as a gossip. Melan just sat there waiting for an answer, not understanding the suggestive meaning of his own words.

"That's true, Melan-san." Jun said at last, smiling very kindly. "We were married nine years ago. Gen-kun is eight years old now, and Moto-chan is five. We're expecting our third child in a few weeks."

When Jun affectionately placed her hands over her enlarged belly, Melan realized his senses had been correct earlier. She was indeed carrying an unborn human child inside of her.

"Yes!" Mike exclaimed, looking like he would burst with delighted pride at any moment. "In just a few more weeks we'll have a little baby boy, and his name will be Shuta!"

"Shuta?" Melan echoed. Something suddenly dawned on him then. Everyone who lived in the tenement house was sitting in their proper places except for one person. He looked around the room but saw no sign of the missing person anywhere. "Shuta is not here."

The others looked back at him with a mixture of surprise and confusion. "What?" Jun said. "Marin-chan, you didn't tell him?"

Melan turned to the young woman next to him who was staring down into her teacup. She did not look up when she spoke again. "Grandpa Shuta is in heaven now."

Mike started to become emotional then. He had been the old man's assistant and roommate. He had also never been very good at hiding his emotions, and this time was no different. "Boss left us his old apartment to live in…" he said, trying to restrain the tremor in his voice. "…And permission to keep his inventions."

Jun put one hand over her husband's to comfort him. "You were always like a son to him, Mike. I'm sure he'd be very proud to let you name one of your own sons after him."

Melan needed no further explanation. It was now crystal clear that Shuta, the strange old inventor who had also served as the tenement's unofficial leader, was dead. And judging from the heavy atmosphere around the table, it had happened fairly recently. Melan began to feel sorry for bringing up the issue. He also couldn't help feeling some sadness over the old man's passing. Shuta had been a great help to him in the past and he had never really thanked him for it.

The soft rain outside grew louder to replace the silence that filled the room. It made Marin feel very uneasy. As she tried to think of some new conversation topic that would lighten the mood she frowned. Throughout the entire meal, no one had bothered to mention the most important topic on everyone's minds.

"Melan," she said. "Can you tell us how you came to Earth again?"

Melan looked down at his newly healed legs and arms, then at the people seated around the table. Judging from their faces they were all wondering the same thing. The answer to that question was not an easy one. He wasn't sure if he understood it, either. Still, these people deserved an explanation after all they had done for him.

"Very well." Melan said. "I will tell you as much as I can."

The tenement house fell unusually silent. Everyone at the table was looking straight at him, waiting for him to tell them his story. For a moment he said nothing as he gathered his thoughts. Then, just when the others could stand the suspense no longer, he began to speak.

"Back on Brigadoon," Melan said. "A dangerous Monomakia escaped imprisonment, causing much death and destruction. He was so powerful that only the three Gun-Swordsmen stood any chance against him. Thus, Pyon, Eryun and I were sent for. We pursued the fugitive to a whirlpool in the ocean, but when we reached the other side we were suddenly in the sky during a thunderstorm."

He paused briefly to collect his thoughts again. "We engaged the fugitive in combat nonetheless. However, it was very difficult to fight and maintain contact with each other in such extreme weather conditions. We all received serious injuries, and the winds scattered us in different directions. I do not know where my comrades or the fugitive are now."

His story finished, Melan went quiet again. The others also remained quiet as they contemplated everything he had just told them.

Eventually it was Tadashi who finally broke the silence. His brows were wrinkled together in thought. "It sounds like when you arrived on Earth, you were caught in the typhoon. And since you were with the other two Gun-Swordsmen, does that mean they're also here?"

Melan nodded. "I'm certain of it. They may even be here in this city. However, I have not been able to detect either of them since I awoke."

Mike rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm. That whirlpool you guys dove into was definitely some kind of portal. But how did it get there? We thought all the barriers between here and Brigadoon were sealed up for good. They don't just open up randomly, do they?"

"That is something else I do not know." Melan admitted. "All I know is that in order to complete my mission I must find my comrades as soon as possible."

Jun's eyebrows were drawn in an anxious frown. "What about the fugitive? Can't we do something about him?"

"There isn't much we can do about any of this right now." Tadashi said. "These other Monomakia might all be in their ampoules, or they might be roaming free. If one of them is spotted, we'll hear about it on the news for sure."

"Or they'll come to us." Mike chimed in. "All the Monomakia from before were chasing after Marin, remember? What if they do the same thing this time?"

"I don't think so." Tadashi shook his head and looked at Melan. "If Marin was in danger, you would have told us, right?"

"Yes." Melan replied. "Although it is no longer my mission, Marin's safety is still a great concern to me. If an enemy should threaten her, I will protect her as I always have."

Then a child's voice spoke up. "Hey, Melan-san?" It was Gen, seated between his parents and grandparents. "In Auntie Marin's stories, is the Blue Swordsman supposed to be you?"

Melan stared at him with complete blankness yet again. Somehow this boy was a master at asking the strangest of questions. "Blue Swordsman?" he echoed, totally unfamiliar with the term.

Gen nodded his head. "Yeah, you look just like the guy in the stories. You're blue, you're really tall, you've got weapons for hands, and you can fly." Excitement was quickly returning to his face. "You really _can_ fly, right? That's what your wings are for, aren't they?"

Melan didn't understand why the boy was getting so animated about all of this, yet he answered his question anyway. "Yes, they are. Now that you mention it, I have not yet tested them since I awoke today. They must be strong enough to fly with by now."

Gen's face broke into a huge grin. _"Fantastic!" _he exclaimed in English.

Jun looked at Melan's wings worriedly. "Are you sure they're ready? You heal faster when you're inside your ampoule. Maybe you should wait a little longer before you try flying again."

Melan shook his head. "I cannot afford to wait any longer. The sooner I can fly, the sooner I can resume my mission."

"Then at least wait until it's darker." Tadashi said. "That way you won't stand out so much."

Miyuki agreed with her husband. "That's a good point, dear. The neighbors shouldn't mind too much, but it would really cause a ruckus if too many people knew a creature from Brigadoon were here."

Melan considered their words. They did have a good point. The last thing he wanted to do was attract unwanted attention here on the Funny World. Not only would it hinder his mission, but it would cause trouble for Marin and her family. That would not do at all.

"Very well." he said at last. "I will wait until dark to test my wings. Until then, I will remain here."

Then another child's voice spoke up. This time it was Moto and the look on her young face was very serious. She had been attempting to hide among her family throughout the conversation, but her small pigtailed head was now poking out from behind her mother's back. "Um, Auntie Marin?"

Marin had been silently gazing into her teacup throughout most of the conversation. When she heard Moto speaking to her she looked up and blinked as if waking from a dream. "Uh, yes, what is it?"

The little girl hesitated a bit before she spoke again. "Is Melan-san your boyfriend?"

Marin's face turned beet red. The Momoi triplets immediately began tittering again. Onando continued to sip his tea in silence. The Tokita couple both arched their eyebrows and the White couple looked rather embarrassed. The children were again confused by the weird behavior of the adults.

Melan felt the beginnings of a smile. It was good to be home again.


	3. Brilliant Flight

Part 3: Brilliant Flight 

For the rest of that rainy day, the people of the tenement house monitored the news.

There was only one TV set and one radio in the whole tenement, and they were located at opposite ends of the building. The TV was in the White family's unit while the radio was in Onando's, and both devices were turned on at the same time for hours on end. This would not happen under normal circumstances, due to electric bills being so expensive, but this was not a normal day.

The reporters spoke of the rainy weather and the damages done by the typhoon, but what everyone was really hoping to hear about was a sighting of the three lost Monomakia that Melan had mentioned during lunch. By the time night fell nothing had been said about them. Perhaps that was a mixed blessing.

As Melan moved about the house that day, the White children were never far behind. Gen was completely enthralled by the Gun-Swordsman and ambushed him with questions at every turn. Moto was more timid than her brother, but no less curious about the alien visitor. Jun tried to keep them from pestering him too much, but he found that he didn't mind their company. It was nice to meet new humans that were not completely terrified of him.

Soon it was time for dinner. It wasn't until Melan was halfway through his twenty-third helping of rice that he noticed something was off with Marin. While he had been busy eating, she had just sat there quietly and let her meal grow cold in front of her. When he asked why she wasn't eating she looked up from her plate as if she'd forgotten he was sitting right next to her. Then she smiled back rather weakly and said she wasn't very hungry. He did not find her answer convincing, but decided not to push the issue.

When dinner was over, Melan went to the roof of the tenement house and looked at the sky. Due to the late autumn season the sun had set earlier than usual. The rain had stopped falling and the clouds were beginning to break up. The moon was not visible, being in its darkest phase. The temperature was cool but not cold. The conditions were perfect for his test flight.

Aside from a few sounds from other houses, the neighborhood was quiet. Then he heard a noise very close by. He looked and saw that someone had joined him on the roof.

Marin was standing only a short distance away. She was dressed in a raincoat and rubber boots. "I thought you might be up here."

Melan frowned. "What are you doing, Marin? A fall from this height could seriously injure you."

As she took a few steps closer, she held her arms straight out to her sides for balance. "I won't fall. I just want to talk."

He watched her movements carefully. He didn't like it when she took unnecessary risks like this, especially for his sake, but he was fully prepared to lunge forward and catch her if he had to. "What was it you wanted to talk about?"

When she was within three feet of him she stood still and tucked her hands into her coat pockets. The air was colder to her than it was to him, and her hair was dancing in the chilly breeze. "I want to come with you."

He had anticipated these words in one form or another and already had an answer. "I'm on a mission to capture a very dangerous fugitive Monomakia. You would get hurt if you came with me."

Marin smiled dryly. "I knew you'd say that. But that's not what I meant."

Melan blinked in surprise at this.

"Don't get me wrong," she continued. "I really _want_ to help you. But there's just no way I can do that." She looked up at the dark sky, deep in thought. Her expression became more somber. "The only time I was ever really helpful to you was when I had Cosmos. Now that it's gone, I'd only slow you down."

Melan did not know how to respond. Was this what had been bothering her earlier? These were certainly not the kind of words he had been expecting her to say. They didn't sound like the younger Marin at all. "But … what did you mean when you said that you wanted to come with me?"

She gazed quietly at the sky a bit longer then took a deep breath and spoke. "I want to join you on your test flight." She turned toward him, her hair and coat fluttering around her in the gentle wind and her green eyes filled sincere hope. "Please, Melan? Is it okay for me to fly with you tonight?"

For a moment he stood there in silence. This was a side of Marin he hadn't seen very often. Instead of making a big fuss and insisting on joining his mission, she seemed content with the idea of just being near him. Maybe this was a product of maturity, or maybe it was a result of his extended absence from her life. Either way, Melan found himself smiling about it as he answered her question. "I suppose there's no harm in that."

As soon as he said those words, Marin dropped all pretense of maturity and squealed like a schoolgirl. "Hurray!" she sang happily. "Flying, flying, flying with Melan!"

Then she flung her arms around his waist. The hug caught him off guard, but he quickly composed himself again. "Please turn around so I can hold you, Marin."

She did as he said, still giddy with excitement. He stretched his sinewy cables out and wrapped them securely around her waist. As he lifted her up and held her against himself, he noticed several new things about her body. Since she was taller he didn't need to lift her quite as high as before. She was also heavier, but not so much that it would be a problem. Most conspicuously, though, she was more soft and curvy than she used to be.

Then he snapped his wings open. With a noise like a jet fighter taking off, they launched from the tenement house roof and straight up into the air. For her this was a bit too high, too fast. She gasped and instinctively squeezed her eyes shut, gripping his cables tightly.

He reduced his speed in response. "Are you afraid, Marin?"

She turned her head to pout at him. "Just … take it easy, okay? I haven't done this in a long time…"

He nodded, leveled out and surged forward. Even at a lower speed they were still moving very fast. However, she had soon adjusted and felt comfortable enough to open her eyes. She looked at the world below, where the wet streets shone like mirrors and the lights looked like blurry streaks.

"Amazing…" she murmured aloud. She turned her head to look back at him, this time with a smile on her face. "Melan, you're really amazing!"

Melan couldn't help smiling back. The way Marin was acting now was so much like the young girl she once was. This was just like the old days, when she would ask to fly off with him just for the fun of it. Before he met her, flying had been just another way of getting from one place to another. Now it was a delight.

Since she was no longer afraid, he decided to attempt some more daring aerobatics. He began by pulling further upward. Once they were high enough he arched backward and down, completing a perfect loop. She squealed and laughed, definitely a positive reaction. As he performed a second loop, she shut her eyes and lifted her arms like wings, relishing the feeling of the wind blowing in her hair and against her face.

Then something cold and wet splashed on her forehead. Confused, Marin opened her eyes. The night sky had filled itself with thick clouds and soon dozens of raindrops were stinging her face. She yelped in pain and tried to block them with her arms. Melan heard her distraught noises and saw the rainfall was quickly becoming heavier. He had flown them too far from the house, though, so he needed to find shelter elsewhere.

Sweeping closer to the ground, Melan spotted a large concrete bridge crossing a canal. There was a ledge under it that looked wide enough to stand on and the water was low. It wasn't the best shelter but it would have to do for now. He reduced his speed and gradually descended until they were under the bridge. Once his tripod feet clacked lightly on the ledge, he set her down and retracted his cables back into his torso.

"Ah-haaa…" Marin groaned, wiping her wet face on her coat sleeve. "Why did it have to start raining again?"

Melan folded his wings shut and watched the rainfall develop into a steady downpour. "I think it's only a brief cloudburst. It won't last long, but we should wait here until it passes."

She started mentally cursing Mother Nature for ruining her fun. In response, a gust of wind blew under the bridge and swept up her wet coat and hair. She shrieked and wrapped her arms tightly around herself, teeth chattering and knees knocking. "Gah! Cold, cold, cold!"

Extending his cables once more, Melan reached out to the shivering Marin. Hearing movement behind her she started to turn, only to be seized around the waist by the sinewy cables and pulled face first into his rock-solid torso. Luckily her hands moved up fast enough to save her nose from being bruised.

"Melan! Wh-What are you…" She stopped, noticing how much warmer his body was growing. With a sigh of contentment she rubbed her cheek against his chest. "Ah-haaa …That's nice…"

"My body temperature can be adjusted automatically." He made this statement out of habit, though it was partly to remind her in case she had forgotten.

"Mmm…" She moved her arms around his waist in a hug. Flying had been fun, but what she had missed even more than that was just being close to him. "You used to hold me like this when I was cold." Then she giggled softly. "I was so short you had to lift me off the ground."

Melan was also remembering those days. He also noted something was different about this hug. The one she had given him previously had been one of innocent joy, but this second one felt totally unlike it, both physically and emotionally. Even as he thought of it he couldn't find words to describe it.

The two of them stayed there in each other's embrace unaware of any time that might have passed. Neither of them knew how long they stayed under the bridge holding each other like that and neither of them really cared. When they were together nothing else seemed to matter.

Then it struck Melan that this was the first time he had been truly alone with Marin in ages. There were many things he wanted to say to her, but he couldn't decide where to start. Finally he settled on something he had been thinking of earlier that day.

"Marin," he said, tilting his head downward to look at her. "Today at lunch, Gen said you told stories of someone called the Blue Swordsman. His description sounded like me. Could you explain that?"

"Oh…" She gave an awkward chuckle. "Yeah, I've been telling the kids stories about you since they were both really little."

He became curious. "What kind of stories?"

Marin tipped her head up to look back at him. "All of them. Well, most of them, anyway. They're just little kids, so I had to leave out the really scary parts. But every story was from the time we were together." Then she smiled. "And you know what? When I told those stories, it was almost like you were here again." She rested her head on his chest and her arms tightened around his waist. "So I kept telling stories. Not just to entertain the kids, but to sort of bring you back."

Melan stared down at the top of her head as he pondered her words. He had often worried that Marin's memories of him would fade over time and eventually disappear. Now it seemed those fears were unfounded. Not only did she still remember him, but she had done all in her power to do so.

Then his mind drifted to another subject that had been mentioned at lunch. Moto had asked Marin if he was her boyfriend. She had stammered back a flustered reply against asking such personal things at the table, but it was not a direct answer. He was still not completely sure of what a boyfriend was, but she had called him by that title ten years ago. From what he could tell it had to do with a special kind of bond between two people and particularly strong feelings of affection. Could that mean her old feelings for him were also as strong as her memories?

Before he had the chance to ask her anything on the subject, a very nasal, feline voice broke the silence under the bridge. "Aww! What a romantic sight! If only I had a camera!"

Startled, Marin broke from the embrace and spun around to see where the voice had come from. A strange creature stood balancing itself on one of the bridge's support structures like a tightrope walker. It was about the size and shape of a cat, only with longer ears, greener fur, and a ponytail standing straight up on the back of its head. With a toothy grin, the creature twirled around on one skinny foot like a miniature ballet dancer. "Lo-loooon!"

Marin stammered and pointed a shaky finger. "L-L-Lolo! What are _you_ doing here?"

The furry creature stopped spinning and struck another ridiculous pose. Now his whole body was wiggling around as if his bones were made of jelly. "That's the question of the ages, isn't it? Why are we here? Where are we going? What is the meaning of life?"

Melan was slightly annoyed by the unwelcome intrusion but he didn't so much as bat an eye at the creature's bizarre performance. "Chairman of the Life Improvement Committee."

"Howdy doo, Melan Blue!" Lolo sang. "Sorry to check in so late!" He began swinging upside down from the bridge by his ankles and flashed Marin a playful grin. "Thanks for looking after the big lug for me, babe. Bad weather always screws up Reghen's signal."

Marin arched an eyebrow when Lolo called her 'babe'. That was something new, yet it was also very typical of him. He was always joking around even when a monster was destroying half of Tokyo, so she could never really be sure whether or not he was serious.

"Lolo, did you know Melan was here all this time?" she asked, hoping that if she acted serious he would do the same.

No such luck. Lolo folded his arms behind his head and swayed back and forth. "I just knew he was on Earth, but I had a hunch he'd end up with you again. He just can't stay away, ya know?" Lolo then swung himself completely off the bridge, did a flip in midair, and landed on top of Melan's head in a crouch. "So, how's your new mission going in the Funny World, big guy?"

Melan replied in a very businesslike manner, like a soldier delivering a status report to his superior officer. "I was injured in battle and separated from Pyon and Eryun during a typhoon. The fugitive was lost as well. I have not been able to detect any of them since Marin found and restored me to my current health."

Lolo frowned. "Hmm. That's not good." He moved from Melan's head to his shoulder and finally adopted a serious pose. He was now sitting cross-legged with his arms folded, but his tail was twisting and untwisting itself as if it had a mind of its own. "Things aren't going well on my end, either. Even without the typhoon causing interference, we can't get a strong signal from any of 'em. All we know for sure is that they're somewhere in this city. So you two better start looking!"

Marin and Melan frowned. They both knew how much death and destruction Pyon and Eryun had caused on Earth ten years ago. Circumstances had been different then, but other people would not recognize that. The public would see them as dangerous alien monsters, the same way they had seen Melan. Should anyone else encounter the other two Gun-Swordsmen, there was no telling how much chaos would result.

Then the last thing Lolo had said suddenly registered in Marin's mind. "Wait a minute." she said with some confused blinking. "Lolo, are you saying you want me to _help_ Melan?"

Lolo grinned, dropping the serious act completely. "Sure, why not?" Then he turned upside-down and lifted himself into a handstand. "You two make such beautiful music together!"

Melan looked very sternly at the little upside-down creature on his shoulder. "Chairman, you and I both know how powerful the fugitive Monomakia is. If Marin becomes involved and there is another battle, she will not survive."

"Point," Lolo said, raising one finger while still upside-down. "But still Marin has powers similar to the Creis, so she's the only human who can detect the presence of a Monomakia. And, since the fugitive's signal is so weak, he's either seriously injured or in his ampoule form. If you guys can find him before somebody else does, Marin won't be in any danger."

Marin also became stern. "You're sure about this, Lolo? Are you really being serious here?"

"Honey, I couldn't be more serious unless I was dead." Suddenly his upside-down body began to flicker with static like a hologram. "Whoops! Looks like I'm out of time for now." He righted himself and saluted to them, grinning hugely. "Happy hunting, you crazy lovebirds!"

After Lolo's projection vanished, Marin and Melan stood under the bridge in silence, attempting to make sense of what had just happened. Eventually they noticed the sounds of rain were not as loud.

"Oh, the storm's letting up." Marin remarked, not knowing what else to say.

Melan looked out at the rain and nodded. "We should go back to the house and rest now. Both of us will need our strength for the task ahead."

She looked up at him, eyes shimmering with hope. "Then …Then you're really going to let me help?"

He did not look back at her, his face still an unreadable mask and no trace of emotion in his voice. "I must obey the Chairman's orders. If he thinks it will help my mission, I will do as he says."

"Oh…" She felt her heart sink a little. "Of course. Your mission's the important thing."

He sensed the hint of melancholy in her voice immediately and looked directly at her. This time there was warmth in his eyes. "Marin, it's true that my mission is important. But there is no one else I would rather accomplish it with then you."

She felt better instantly and beamed. Then she clenched one fist with determination and thrust it in the air. "Okay! It's settled! We'll start our mission together!"

Melan smiled at her enthusiasm. She really was the same Marin after all these years. He stretched forth his cables to pick her up again. Still unfamiliar with the changes in her anatomy, he adjusted the pads at the ends in order to hold her better.

Suddenly Marin screamed and started flailing crazily. _"Ah-haaa!_ Melan! Don't touch my _boobs!"_


End file.
